


Of Hollows and Beasts

by Hopeful_Puppy



Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: But Bleach so of course character death, Character Death, Gen, Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Waking Up Dead
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-18
Updated: 2012-08-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:27:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22913980
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hopeful_Puppy/pseuds/Hopeful_Puppy
Summary: In the life of a Ninja, Death is a well-known friend. So when Naruto and Gaara wake in the dusty streets of the Soul Society, they're not overly surprised. However, after meeting 3 adoptive brothers, Naruto and Gaara soon learn that the afterlife is not as peaceful as the living believe. Then again, they expected to go to Hell anyway...
Relationships: Gaara & Uzumaki Naruto
Kudos: 26





	1. The Beginning Of Death

* * *

Naruto awoke to find himself slumped against a close to rundown traditional Japanese wooden house. He looked around to find a street with houses, or rather shacks, of a similar fashion. The ground was rough and dusty and the few people who were in the street looked quite poor. There were old wooden boxes scattered here and there, some of them broken, some of them whole. There were three boys looking to be in their pre-teens playing a little ways up the street from him. However, while they looked happy and quite content with their game, Naruto could see the eyes of the few adults that wandered the street. Their eyes told him of hardship. Their eyes told him the truth of this place. It was a sad and depressing as it looked. 

“So… this is the afterlife, hmm?” he murmured quietly.

Be under no illusion, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze knew he was dead. He knew exactly how he died too. He knew he had died while trying to avoid the captivity of Madara Uchiha with one of his closest friends Gaara, the Kazekage of Suna. He had gone with Gaara too help a shinobi team who had fallen into a trap with valuable information regarding the allied villages battle plans, much to the worry and irritation of many protesting friends and family members. The other Kages had been against it entirely, as the two of them were quite valuable in to their side in war. Alas, much to the amusement of Naruto, Gaara had politely informed them that they were not asking for permission to go, simply informing them of the decision in case anyone wondered were they had “trotted of to”. Naruto had laughed out loud as the very un-Gaara like phrase flowed out of his mouth and into the stunned faces of every occupant in the room. Even in death, he couldn’t forget the uncomprehending looks the Kages had on their faces as the pair had swiftly jumped out the window and to the aid of the team.

And aid the team they did, but at the last second, another trap had been set and the two had gotten caught. Faced then, surprisingly, by Sasuke Uchiha and Madara Uchiha, himself, a violent battle ensued with the Uchihas seeming to be fighting the two with ease. A stroke of luck and reinforcements arrived. While Sasuke, to his utter fury, was distracted with others Gaara and Naruto fought Madara, no matter how many people be it Kage or otherwise tried to take over. With Naruto’s newfound speed, acquired from the absorption of the Kyùbi, he had told Gaara of a plan he was going to use against Madara. It needed exact timing and a partner and Gaara had agreed readily.

When the right opportunity arose, the pair took it and rammed kunai covered in seals as an extra pre caution in Madara’s heart and throat. Still, even with his last dying breath Madara laughed, seeing something neither teen could in time. Sasuke. Sasuke, using Amaterasu, set the three ninjas a light, listening impassively as Naruto and Gaara screamed in agony at the pain created by the wild looking black flames. The three were dead before anyone realised the sight of their heroes and enemy burning to death was a reality…

Naruto sighed heavily, as he looked up to the blue sky of the afterlife. _Well, at least it’s the same as the one in life. I bet it has clouds too; Shikamaru would appreciate that little bit of knowledge. That, yes, even if he dies he can still laze about in the afterlife doing nothing but watch the clouds go by._

Naruto chuckled at the thought and smiled at the sky. After a minute or so, however, his face became somber and he bowed his head to visit the deepest recesses of his mind, where he knew he’d find a giant red fox with nine flowing tails.

* * *

The chamber was the same as it usually was with the exception of the solid gold bars and seal, which had all but disappeared. As he entered the chamber, Naruto noticed the fox was sitting up straight watching him walk in with a blank stare, as if he had been waiting for him. There were no gates, or seals to protect Naruto from the fox now, but this didn’t worry him. As he stopped in front of the enormous spiritual demon, said demon made no move to attack. They stared at each other ignoring the passing of time because, when your dead, did it really matter how much time you spent doing something?

“You died” the fox stated the obvious, breaking the silence.

“I did. Your point?”

“Are you happy now?” Naruto narrowed his bright blue eyes dangerously but made no other move that even hinted at the fact he had heard the fox’s question. The fox sneered, but went on to explain.

“I mean, you killed Uchiha Madara and saved all of your precious people from a mad man bent on changing the world for the worst. On top of that, you avenged your parents and other precious people who died by his hand. Sure, you didn’t become Hokage. Yes, you didn’t make the other Uchiha runt see the “light”. Yes, you’ll never see those precious people again, or eat ramen, or succeed or fail a mission, or even get a mission, at all, ever again, but, hey, it was worth it. You died for a good cause and that’s all that matters, right? So, I’m asking, are you glad you’re dead?”

The fox sneered cruelly once again when he noticed that Naruto had, at some point during his rant, stopped glaring into his cold, blood red eyes and was now staring blankly at the fox’s massive paws. He was silent. Needless to say, this amused the fox greatly.

“Oh, I’m sorry” he cooed in a sickly sweet tone. “Did I upset you with that list? Or was it the constant reminder you’re now dead, having achieved hardly anything you wanted to?”

A pause. A pause that echoed around the chamber they were in. And then, Naruto looked up into the slightly unbelieving eyes of the demon fox with a small genuine smile.

“No, but you offended me greatly by not mentioning certain things like, said mad man being the most powerful shinobi the living world has known, thus making me one of the most powerful ninja to ever exist by defeating him. Also, you forgot to mention that I eliminated the threat of anyone endangering my friends or the people of Konoha by looking for the power of the Nine Tailed Fox. I, also, eliminated the threat of you ever being released. And, what do you mean ‘hardly achieved anything you wanted to’? I achieved lots! I made a close circle of friends, became the village hero after years of isolation, saved hundreds of people from themselves, as well as others. I became a Toad Sage, for God’s sake! So, I didn’t become Hokage. Boo hoo! What am I going to do about it? I’m dead. Besides, I had the power level of one and the ability to be one and I had none of the paperwork of the Hokage either. That said, why would I complain?”

Naruto finished his equally long rant and waited for the Kyùbi to say something, succeeding the amazing feat of masking, with a serene and patient smile, the laughter and giggles that were bubbling in his chest. The fox’s face was a hilarious mixture of emotions and he could seem to decide on whether to; A) snarl furiously at being shown up, B) laugh at the ‘stupidity’ of the person in front of him or C) stare in disbelief, suspicion and/or horror at Naruto, as he had completed his rant in a calm and cheery tone. Start to finish without once raising his voice and indicating any other emotions other than calm and well… cheery.

He finally decided on an unsettled, uncomfortable look to accompany his comment.

“You’re way too optimistic, you know that, right?”

“I do. I also believe it’s quite healthy to be that way. I also thought you knew these bits of info as well. Hmm, I must have been wrong.”

His eyes were amused and his tone was implying, but Naruto really hoped the Kyùbi didn’t take the bait. He didn’t feel like running from a giant fox and he had come to talk about something a little more important than his level of optimism. After a death glare and a threatening snarl, Naruto decided to share the real reason he came to the chamber with Kyùbi.

“I didn’t come here to banter with you like in days of the living, as amusing as it is. I came to say that while I was alive I created a few theories around the seal that caged you in me and what would happen to you when I died. It seems that one of my theories is checking out and that we are bound together spiritually through our souls and as much as I hate to admit it and we both may hate to believe it, it seems…” Naruto paused and sighed quietly.

“It seems we are stuck with each other for the unforeseeable future” the fox finished, having seen where the blond boy was going.

“Exactly, that said I have to ask you. Can you deal with that? Can you live with me for an indefinite amount of time?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“I’m trying to give you one.”

Silence. A deafening silence chilled the large chamber in which a large red fox with nine flowing tails openly stared at the blond haired, blue eyed boy in front of him. The boy would not free him. They both knew that, but then… What was he offering?

“Explain.”

“It would not be freedom and I do not have the knowledge at the moment to know how to go about doing anything about this bond we share, but it would be something for me to focus on and it would be an escape from me and possible escape to freedom in future. So, what do you say? You’re my responsibility, but if you want, I’m willing to give you that choice.”

The Kyùbi was stunned but he didn’t show it. He thought long and hard about this offer, he was surprised the boy was still waiting patiently. After thinking about it for a few more minutes the fox decided to speak.

“The offer is…tempting, but far too up in the air for my liking. Even if you were to some how split us and re-seal me, it wouldn’t be a human vessel would it? No, it would be an inanimate object that would be left on a shelf somewhere gathering dust. The chance of freedom may be higher but how many centuries of boredom would I have to wait before it came? Too many for my liking, I have a better chance at some miniscule amount of entertainment if I stay as the darker side of your soul.”

“So, let me get this straight? Even after an entire lifetime of trying to take over my body and escape and ignoring the fact that you hate the very essence that makes me, you still want to be the darker half of my being after being offered a better chance of freedom?” Naruto was sceptical.

He was nearly sure the fox would have said yes. Still, when actually thinking it through, it would have been more trouble than the separation would be worth. Kyùbi’s eyes flashed dangerously at Naruto’s question and he moved to stand on all fours, rather than sit on his haunches. 

“Flesh Bag, my reasons should be none of your concern. You’re lucky I even gave you reasons, you pathetic-” he began, but Naruto cut him off before he could start.

“Alright, alright! Easy! I was only asking. Jeez, oh and by the way, I’m dead and in the spirit world now so technically, you can’t-”

The enormous fox cut him off with a roar. Enraged at the insolence of the whelp trying to out do him with wits and really just looking for a good fight the Kyùbi charged at the ready Naruto. However, just as they were about to collide, they froze and looked up.

“Someone’s trying to wake me” Naruto said, stating what they both felt.

“We’ll finish this later, brat.”

Naruto smirked as he returned to the proverbial world of the proverbial living… Or something to that effect.

* * *

Gaara had had a long and tiring day and he hadn’t even been awake in the afterlife twenty minutes yet. He had awoke to find himself lying in the middle of the street beside his first and most loyal friend, Naruto Uzumaki, only to find that said friend was dead to the world (no pun intended) and was not waking anytime soon and that he, himself, did not recognise the street he was lying in. So, after moving Naruto up against the side of one of the shacks (they couldn’t really be called anything else), Gaara went to ask the poor looking locals where in the heck he was, while trying to keep an eye on his still unconscious friend.

Fifteen minutes and many pitying looks later and we find a newly enlightened and very unsettled, Gaara. _That woman looked like she wanted to hug me, and why was that man looking at me like that? I find out I’m dead and all of a sudden everyone wants to show me comfort and give me pity. I’m a ninja; I was expecting to die at some point._

Gaara headed back to sit down against the shack beside Naruto and wait for him to wake up. Another 5 minutes and Gaara was becoming bored just waiting. However, when he saw Naruto’s fingers twitch, Gaara decided to try and wake Naruto. Shaking the blonde gently, he saw sky blue eyes begin to flutter open. Naruto looked around feigning sleepiness as he usually did after speaking with his tenant. Gaara gave a small smile at the familiar action. Naruto always pretended to be asleep when someone interrupted a conversation or a meditation session. Gaara found it odd but never asked Naruto why he did it. It was just something Naruto did and Gaara could accept that. Finally, Naruto focused on Gaara.

“Hey Gaara. We’re dead, aren’t we?” It was more of a statement than a question, but Gaara nodded anyway. Naruto nodded in return to show he understood.

“You still have the Kyùbi sealed in you” Gaara confirmed. Naruto nodded again.

“We had a very interesting conversation. Do you know, he thinks I’m too optimistic?”

“He’s right.”

“Shut up! I’ll have you know, I have a healthy level of optimism that a lot of people could learn from.”

“Naruto, not only does that _not_ make sense, but, I must point out that before you died, you thought a staple diet of ramen was healthy, so you can’t really say anything without being a hypocrite.” 

“I don’t believe it. My own friend is siding with a demon fox, over me.”

“Only when he’s right.”

Naruto groaned in defeat and grumbled about the unfairness of it all as he got to his feet with Gaara. Once up, he stretched, pulling and cracking various different muscles and joints. When he was done, he turned to Gaara with a smile and put his hands behind his head.

“So, what do we do now?” he asked.

“We should walk around and find out more information about this place and get the layout of the area. Then we can think about what we’ll do next” Gaara answered quickly, still thinking like the commanding leader he used to be.

“You know, Gaara we’re not at war anymore. At least, I don’t think we are” Naruto teased. Gaara glared but a very light pink hue could be seen dusting his cheeks. It was the only evidence of his embarrassment. Naruto sniggered. Gaara’s glare and blush intensified.

“Do you have a better idea?” he challenged.

“No and I’ll happily follow your orders, _sir_. I just thought I should remind you of the tiny fact that we are not at war, Commander General, _sir_ ” Naruto struggled to hold his chuckles.

“Good to know, Genin Naruto. But, I’ll correct you on just one thing,” Gaara said firmly and clearly. Naruto spluttered at the Genin comment and glared with equal intensity at Gaara.

“And what would that be may I ask?” Gaara smirked.

“I was Regimental Commander, not Commander General.”

Naruto blinked. Naruto blinked, again, and then he burst out laughing. His laugh was contagious and Gaara found his smirk turn into a small smile. Gaara sometimes wished he could laugh as easily as Naruto could. He was about to turn and lead the way up the street, when Naruto called him back.

“Hey Gaara, what about your gourd?”

Gaara turned, intent on telling Naruto that, since he was dead, how could his gourd possibly-

There it was. His gourd resting against the shack, in the same place Gaara had just been sitting. How hadn’t he noticed it? Walking the few steps he had taken back, Gaara picked it up and placed it on his back. It felt warm, comfortable and right. He then noticed something shining out of the corner of his eye, but Naruto had already bent to pick up his headband before Gaara could say anything. When Naruto turned back to Gaara, he noticed how different Naruto looked without it. While he may not have noticed it originally, Gaara had to admit Naruto didn’t look right without his headband. Naruto smiled proudly as if reading Gaara’s thoughts.

“Shall we go?” he asked, putting his hands behind his head again in a relaxed manner. Gaara nodded and once again began to lead the way. As Naruto followed, he started a very one-sided conversation. Gaara smiled another small smile and realised as he listened, he was happy.

If Gaara could change the past neither he nor Naruto would have died. He couldn’t though and Gaara accepted the fact that he was dead and while he knew it was selfish, he was very happy he did not die alone. He was happy he had died with Naruto, one of, if not _the_ closest friend Gaara had, by his side. Besides, if he was being honest, Gaara had never had much time for feelings of guilt or selfishness anyway.

They’d been walking for little over an hour, having short conversations every now and then with people of interest and commenting to each other about certain things they noticed in the world around them. They headed towards the edge of the village, neither of the pair in any particular mood to deal with lots of people, considering the looks they were already getting. They saw a field of grass and a forest at the end of the street they were walking in, when they stopped and turned to each other, seemly for no other reason than to talk. Even as they talked their eyes were searching for their followers. When they spotted the three kids staring at them from an alleyway near by, they relaxed slightly and Gaara asked Naruto something that had been bothering him for a while.

“Hey Naruto, why do you think I still have my gourd with me in the afterlife? You didn’t seem that surprised to find it, along with your headband.”

Gaara knew that Naruto wasn't the sharpest kunai in the ninja pack, but what he didn’t have in intellect, he made up for in unique thinking and observation skills. While he was by no means a genius, Naruto had an ability to figure things out in unusual ways that many wouldn’t think of. Gaara had noticed this ability early on in their friendship, so he had been surprised when he found out only a handful of other people knew of this ability.

“Well, think about it,” Naruto answered simply, “aside from when we first got here, have you ever seen me without my headband?”

It was a simple question and very easily answered.

“No, I don’t think I have but, that’s not really an explanation” Gaara answered quietly.

“It is and it isn’t” Naruto explained cryptically.

“Go on.”

“Well, I have two theories. One; is that we love these two possessions so much that they have become a part of us. For us to be without them, well, it would be like missing an arm or something.”

“But I don’t love my gourd. It’s just something I carry my sand in. It’s like a kunai holster. You won’t see a ninja without their kunai holster, but that doesn’t mean it becomes a part of them. If it did we’d have them with us now,” Gaara pointed out.

“Which, leads me on to my second theory” Naruto continued. “Chakra.”

“Chakra?” Gaara asked sceptically, not seeing where Naruto was going.

“You know that chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy. It’s one of the first things you learn in the academy.”

“You didn’t learn that in the academy,” Gaara smirked in amusement.

“No. But Sakura has said it to me so many times, it’s kinda stuck in my head,” Naruto grumbled.

“She’d be so proud of you right now. Were those her exact words?” Gaara teased, thoroughly enjoying the look of annoyance on Naruto’s face. There was no pause, reminding the pair that they would not see Sakura or any of their friends and family again in the near future. There wasn’t a moment longing or nostalgia for their old life. There never would be. Neither Gaara nor Naruto would let that moment pass. If it did the feeling would stay with both of them and they both knew they didn’t want or need that feeling.

“Can I continue?” Naruto growled.

“I don’t know. Can you?”

Naruto glared daggers at Gaara, before closing his eyes and lifting his head to the sky in a silent prayer for patience. Gaara quietly sniggered, but on the inside he was laughing loudly and proudly. After he finished praying or counting to ten, Gaara wasn’t sure which, Naruto opened his eyes and looked back at Gaara, continuing his explanation.

“Chakra is made up of physical and spiritual energy. When you made that gourd, you infused it and its contents with your chakra. This means it has your spirit energy in it, which means, because you had it with you when you died, we can assume that the spirit energy the gourd is infused with joined together with the spirit energy that was in you and both you and it crossed over together.”

A moment passed as Gaara processed the theory. It seemed logical, but he still had some questions.

“How’d you know I made my gourd?”

“I assumed.”

Gaara blinked. That was a good assumption. No one had ever figured out that Gaara made his own gourd, not that anyone was brave enough to care. If they were, they didn’t ask.

“How does that explain your headband?"

“When I gather nature chakra for Sage Mode, I gather it through all parts of my body and change it into my own chakra. Also, I often instinctively built up my chakra and surrounded myself with it before I tried to shape it or force it to do something, when I was training. I also do that when I use the Kyùbi’s chakra. This also explains why we’re wearing our normal clothes instead of clothes similar to the people here, because when you changed into Shukaku and create your sand armour, you did something similar to surrounding yourself with chakra.”

Gaara looked down at himself then at the people around him. He was wearing his old clothes. The ones he wore after he and Naruto truly became friends. Not only that but both his clothes and Naruto’s clothes were not only cleaner than they’d ever been before, but they were completely different to everyone else’s. Gaara looked back at Naruto with a clear question in his eyes. _How did I not notice that? It’s so obvious._

Naruto patted Gaara on the shoulder consolingly, but his eyes were shining with amusement, not pity. Gaara took comfort from this. Looking at Naruto Gaara noticed something amiss.

“Where’s your kunai holster?”

“I wasn’t wearing it when I died. It was cut off my leg earlier in the fight. In fact, I was lucky it wasn’t my leg that was cut off,” Naruto joked.

There was finally a pause as Gaara once again processed the theory, along with the new information. It did make logical sense. Gaara finally nodded in acceptance. Finding their stalkers still hadn’t moved from their hiding place, the pair of ninja decide to address them the old fashioned way.

“Betcha’ I can reach them before you can,” Naruto challenge playfully.

“You think we can still run that fast?” Gaara asked, smirking at typical Naruto thinking.

“I think we can run faster since we’re nothing but spirit. Still, only one way to find out” Naruto said cheerfully, refusing to acknowledge his friends negativity.

And with that they disappeared in flashes of red and yellow.

* * *

Meanwhile, in an alleyway three curious kids watched as the interesting strangers disappeared. The three had followed the pair of strangers since they had seen them talking in the middle of the street. The three kids had listened in on some of their conversation, which sounded really weird to say the least and decided to follow them to find out more. Then they just disappeared. It wasn’t fair; they had been too far away to hear most of the pair’s conversation and all they had really learnt was that the two were new souls to the Soul Society and were looking around.

“Ah! Where’d they go?!” asked one in surprise.

“I don’t know, Koga, but we better get outta here before they find us!” said another.

“Oh, come on! They don’t know we were following them. Besides, even if they did know, why would they bother to try and find us? We’re kids. We’re not worth their time, right Sanji?” Koga exclaimed, looking towards the final member of the group. There was a long pause.

When asked about his intellect, Sanji would often say he did what he needed to survive and that was all anyone needed to know. He relied on his instincts and street smarts to get him what he needed and help him survive. But sometimes the thrill of adventure clouded his judgment and deafened his instincts. Sanji had seen both strangers glance at the spot he and his friends were standing in. It was a lazy glance, one from each stranger, at two completely different times. While it seemed completely uncaring, it was enough to make Sanji uneasy. And now seeing the speed at which the pair had disappeared with, Sanji was beginning to think that following them had been a bad idea all along and that this was one of those times his judgement had been clouded. The call from Koga brought Sanji back to the present.

“…I don’t think they noticed us following them, but I agree with Riku about getting outta here. If they did notice us, I don’t think they’d care if we were kids. I think they’d want to know why were following them more than anything else,” Sanji rationalised.

“Your right in that assumption,” a dry hollow voice whispered into the near empty alley. The three boys froze in fear and their eyes dart around, searching for the source of the voice in the suddenly eerily quiet alley.

It was like an invisible, dark and oppressive cloud descended over the alleyway. Riku began to shake, he was on the verge of tears he was so afraid. Koga and Sanji noticed this and while Koga grabbed his hand in reassurance, Sanji pushed both of them the wall beside a stack of crates and stood in front of them defensively, but far enough away that he could see the entire alley from where he stood. Koga held Riku in a reassuring hug planning to use his body to protect the youngest of them if he needed to. A minute passed and the alley was still quiet. The air was heavy and suffocating. Riku clutched Koga’s shirt tightly as he hid in the embrace, still shaking. Sanji and Koga were still looking for the source of the voice, planning to run as fast as possible in the opposite direction when they found it. Another minute of silence passed and the threatening air hadn’t gone away. Finally, Koga picked up the courage to ask;

“Sanji, do you think that voice was one of the strangers?”

“I’m sure of it.”

Another, minute passed and Sanji and Koga could feel a cold sweat develop on the back of their necks. Riku had closed his eyes and buried his face into Koga’s chest. Koga asked another question;

“Do you think they’re gone?”

Sanji glared at the farthest entry to the alley from him, before slowly scanning the rest of the alley.

“No, they’re not gone. But I don’t know where they are.”

“Behind you.”

* * *


	2. The Meeting Of Fighting Spirits

* * *

_“Behind you.”_

Sanji whipped around to face his friends and Koga and Riku looked up to the source of the voice. All three once again froze in fear at the sight of the figure crouched on top of the stacked crates. The red haired stranger stared down at them with an expressionless face. Dark black rings circled his dark blank eyes and the kanji for “Love” drawn in blood red was on his forehead. He was young, they realised. This stranger looked like he couldn’t be much older than Sanji and yet; it was obvious to the kids that he could kill them without hesitation. He would kill them without hesitation if they did anything he thought was wrong. The scariest thing of all though… He would kill them without hesitation and he wouldn’t care.

Silence reined, as that single thought float round the three kid’s heads. The red headed stranger decided to break the silence seeing as the boys weren’t going to.

“Well?”

Silence. Koga gulped audibly, tears escaped down Riku’s cheeks but Sanji’s unblinking eyes never left the stranger. The red head tried again.

“Why were you following us?”

Silence.

The three young boys paled to paper white when the red headed stranger began to lose his patience and glare. A bark of laughter broke the silence and the heavy, suffocating air vanished as the red head looked up in surprise, along with the three petrified kids. A brash, cheerful voice broke the silent, fearful spell, as the second blonde stranger made his presence known.

“Jeez, Gaara, you told me you wanted to ask them a question. Not scare them to half to death by glaring at them.”

Koga and Riku looked up to the second stranger in awe, as he perched himself on the roof of the shack over looking the alleyway. Sanji cursed himself for not sensing him sooner. At least the red head, Gaara, was in an unsuspected place to be. This guy was on the roof for crying out loud! It should’ve been obvious.

“I was asking them my question, but they were being insolent by not answering.”

It was a quiet voice. Soft, a bit raspy but gentle. It had a distinct whining tone in it too, but it was very subtle. It took Sanji a good minute to realise that it was the red head that had spoken. Then it took a good thirty seconds more for it to click in Koga and Riku’s mind. It didn’t faze the blonde in the slightest and he smiled sweetly as he said,

“Don’t sulk, it’s not becoming. Especially of you, Gaara.”

Riku gasped at the stranger’s bravery and all three kids looked at Gaara. They shivered at the daggers Gaara was glaring at the newcomer with; extremely glad they weren’t on the receiving end of such a glare. The blonde swung his leg as it dangled over the edge of the roof and rested his head lazily on his other bent knee. When he was comfortable he gazed through sleepy eyes at Gaara as he continued.

“Besides, you can’t blame them for not answering. You petrified them. A chùnin can barely resist that amount of KI, never mind a bunch of civilian kids. I’m surprised their still standing.”

“It’s a force of habit, and besides they could’ve been a threat. I was when I was that age and you know that, Naruto,” Gaara nonchalantly argued, trying to defend himself.

Sanji, Koga and Riku watched as newly dubbed Naruto went from sleepy and easy-going to angry in a second. His eyes narrowed dangerously and they began to wonder if Gaara was really the scarier one of the pair. Naruto raised his head from his leg and looked Gaara straight in the eye. His voice was hard as he spoke firmly and clearly.

“Threat, my ass. That’s bull, Gaara, and you know it. Yes, I’ll admit that you were dangerous when you were that age, but your one in a million and have had a very different life to them. Even I know that these are civilian kids and you of all people should be able to tell the difference between an innocent child and a threat. Pull yourself together, you were Kazekage, so force of habit or not, you should be able to show some restraint.”

“They were still following us,” Gaara defended again, but while the kids thought he was confident in his defence, Naruto was the one looking in Gaara’s eyes. His eyes held doubt and uncertainty. Gaara was seeing reason. Naruto’s eyes softened, but his voice didn’t.

“Of course they were following us. Look at them, Gaara. They’re kids and kids do that all the time, it’s natural. You’ve had groups of young kids follow you around before; you know they don’t mean any harm. For heaven’s sake, Gaara, they’re just curious!”

Gaara bowed his head and sighed in defeat. When it came to things like this, Naruto was nearly always right. And while Gaara may believe he had no time for feelings of guilt, Naruto was also the only person in existence to ever make Gaara feel guilty about anything.

“Your right, Naruto. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t say sorry to me. Say sorry to them. And don’t expect them to trust you after that either. No one likes having KI directed at them, especially when they’ve never felt anything like it before,” Naruto lectured quietly.

Gaara nodded, his head still bowed and hopped down from the crate. He turned to the three kids, who had scrambled into a standing position as soon as he’d moved and took in their appearances. Pale skin was covered in dust marks and scratches. Their feet were bare and their linen looking tunics were old and worn. The tallest and seemingly the eldest had short sandy blonde hair which hung over one of his amber eyes.

The second eldest was slightly shorter and bulkier than the blonde. Dark, muddy brown hair was spiked and stuck up out of storm grey eyes. The shortest and the evident youngest looked the picture of innocence and curiosity. Long silver hair hung down to his shoulders and a few strands hung just above his eyes. His eyes were what struck Gaara. They were the same as Gaara’s own emerald green, though not nearly as haunted. Gaara quickly repressed the thought that he had once been told he had got his eye colour from his mother. Closing his own eyes, he sighed before looking each of them in the eye and apologising,

“I’m sorry. I should’ve known better and I’m sorry for acting on suspicion and impulse.”

Gaara looked down at the ground in front of him and Sanji, Koga and Riku realised he was being quite sincere and they weren’t really sure what to say. Naruto sighed heavily and slid from the roof’s edge. Riku gaped in awe as he watched Naruto’s graceful descent and quiet landing, bending his knees ever so slightly to absorb shock. Naruto then walked slowly to Gaara’s side, tapping Riku’s chin upwards lightly as he passed. He draped his arm over Gaara’s shoulder and leaned on him, while looking at Riku, amusement shining brightly in his eyes and he smiled as he commented;

“You’ll catch a lot of flies like that”.

Riku blushed in embarrassment and Koga giggled at him. Sanji simply stared curiously at Naruto. Naruto caught him staring and flashed him a toothy grin before facing Gaara, who was still looking at the ground.

“Cheer up, Gaara. Everyone slips up every now and then. Even you.”

“But, you said it yourself, Naruto. I should’ve shown restraint, I should’ve known better,” Gaara muttered lowly, finally looking up from the ground to turn to Naruto. Koga then decided to speak up.

“Don’t worry about it,” he proclaimed loudly, drawing everyone’s attention, “We should’ve been more obvious to show that we meant no harm.”

Koga grinned widely, Riku face palmed and Sanji hit his friend and brother upside the head scowling at him.

“No, we shouldn’t have, you idiot. We should’ve approached them if we were so curious or left them be if we didn’t have the guts to do that. We shouldn’t have followed them. Full. Stop.” Sanji growled.

As Koga groaned in pain, Gaara smirked slyly and whispered to Naruto.

“Funny, isn’t it? He reminds me of you when you were younger.”

Naruto, who had also been smiling at the scene, choked, snorted and covered it all up with, heavy, violent coughing. The three each gave him their own respective funny look. When Naruto had calmed down enough to breathe normally, Riku steeled his resolve and took a few steps towards the pair.

“Em?” he began, not really knowing how to phrase his question.

“Yes, Shortie?” Naruto asked, curious.

Sniggers and giggles erupted from behind Riku, but he didn’t turn around, choosing to glare at Naruto instead. Gaara shrugged Naruto off his shoulder and went to sit down against the shack, hiding his own amusement as he did so. _Naruto, you are on your own_ , he thought. Finally growing tired of the sniggering, Riku corrected Naruto, clearly accentuating each word.

“I. Am. Not. Short. I. Am. Just. A. Late. Bloomer.”

The sniggering and giggling intensified and Gaara gave two quiet coughs. It took everything Naruto had to not laugh at the child before him as he explained his reasoning. He still smiled as he said;

“While that may be true, compared to me you’re short. Besides, what else am I meant to call you, when I don’t even know your name?”

Riku opened his mouth to protest but faltered as Naruto finished, completely caught off guard, Riku blushed again, his cheeks turning pink his ears turning bright red. Laughter erupted from behind Riku, as his elder friends clutched their stomachs.

“ **Shut Up!** ” Riku yelled. Amazingly the laughter died back down to sniggers.

“It’s Riku, sir. My name is Riku.”

A loud snort sounded from the side of the alley and nearly all present looked over towards the silent, shaking form of Gaara. The kids were surprised and slightly confused. Riku’s name was quite normal and Gaara didn’t really seem to be the type to show his amusement often. Naruto, on the other hand, while surprised, had an educated guess on what he was laughing at.

“Something funny, Gaara?” he asked. It took Gaara a minute but he finally managed to wheeze out a reply.

“H-he called y-you sir. Y-your still a-a-a Genin and h-h-he c-called you s-s-sir!”

He covered his mouth with his hand again in a vain attempt to keep the laughter at bay. Gaara wasn’t sure why he found this so funny but Naruto’s twitching eyebrow only made it that much worse. Riku let his curiosity get the better of him.

“I don’t get it. What’s so funny?”

“It’s nothing important, just something a lot of people would find funny in our old life. Gaara, however, forgets that I can and will kick his ass any day no matter what title I have.” Naruto grumbled.

Gaara finally forced the laughter down and looked up at Naruto, stating clearly with a smirk, something that made Naruto groan and regret ever saying anything.

“I’ll hold you to that.”

The three kids looked between the two just the littlest bit confused.

Ignoring their confusion, Naruto turned back to Riku and got his attention.

“Riku? How about we get your friends to introduce themselves and then you can ask your question, yeah?” Naruto asked looking back at the two boys behind Riku. Said two boys looked at each other and shrugged before looking back at Naruto, with the taller of the two introducing them both.

“Well, I’m Sanji and this is Koga and the three of us are adoptive brothers” Sanji explained.

“Adoptive brothers?” Gaara asked.

“Hardly anyone the Soul Society is actually related, so we all make up adoptive families to look after one another” Koga explained.

Both Naruto and Gaara having asked about the term Soul Society before nodded in acceptance.

“What about you guys? Are you brothers?” Riku asked, curious to know more about the strangers, now knowing he was fairly safe from being killed.

“Well, as you may have guessed, I’m Naruto-”

“And I’m Gaara and no we’re not brothers” Gaara clarified, waiting to see Naruto’s reaction. He wasn’t disappointed. Naruto mock gasped in utter horror.

“Gaara! I thought you cared. How could you wound me so?”

“When you act like that?” Gaara asked with a smirk on his face. “Easily.”

Naruto looked to be on the verge of tears and wailed dramatically to the sky something about the cruelty of it all. The three boys watch the over dramatised scene in fits of giggles. They were beginning to really like these two and were slowly forgetting their original meeting.

When Naruto had calmed down from his dramatic high, he turned back to Riku.

“Never you mind Gaara. He just hates admitting how brotherly close we really are” Gaara snorted and Naruto mock glared at him. Then Gaara sighed in defeat.

“All right. I’ll admit it. We too, are adoptive brothers,” he admitted reluctantly. Naruto lit up like a light bulb and made a move to hug Gaara. Gaara, however, was already two steps ahead and said three words that haunt and terrify many people for various different reasons.

“Gai and Lee.”

It was like someone flicked Naruto’s light switch off. He paled to sickly greenish colour and started to sway. He stumbled his way over to Gaara anyway and slid down into a sitting position against the shack beside him. Just before putting his head between his knees, he muttered weakly to Gaara,

“That was beyond cruel.”

Riku, Koga and Sanji followed Naruto over to Gaara and sat in front of the pair before Koga asked the obvious question.

“Who are Gai and Lee?”

“A horror story for another time” Gaara answered with a wicked smile.

“In the very far away future” Naruto declared suddenly, though it was muffled by the position he was in. While Naruto recovered Gaara turned to Riku.

“You had a question?”

Belatedly realising Gaara was talking to him, Riku nodded quickly.

“What’s KI? I heard Naruto mention it and I was just wondering what it was,” Riku explained.

“KI or Ki is the short term for Killer Intent. It’s something a warrior uses to instil fear or doubt in his enemy. By making the enemy fear you or doubt his own abilities, he becomes much easier to defeat. And, before you ask, it can also be used in interrogation, which is why I used it on you” Gaara explained.

Sanji narrowed his eyes in suspicion, as he gazed at the pair. That description sounded very similar to Reiatsu, something he and his brothers were teaching themselves to use. It was the reason they were always hungry and always moving. The only people Sanji knew of that could use Reiatsu, were the people he and his brothers were trying to run from. The people who, on a daily basis, terrified this part of the Soul Society.

“You guys aren’t Shinigami, are you?” Sanji accused.

Riku gasped and Koga’s eyes widened. Both losing any colour they may have regained from Naruto’s arrival. Neither had thought of the possibility that the two strangers may be Shinigami in disguise. Sanji waited patiently for the answers and reactions of the two strangers, promising himself that if they acted suspiciously, he would take his brothers and run as fast and as far away as possible. Sanji shouldn’t have worried.

Naruto and Gaara stared at Sanji blankly. The minute he said Shinigami, an image of a large, almost see through demonic looking being with long, white hair, horns and a dagger held in it’s fanged mouth came into their minds. This was the picture depicted in the scrolls and storybooks of their immensely deprived childhood. They turned and stared at each other, as if waiting for either of them to turn into such a beast. A minute of staring from all involved passed before Naruto and, yes, even Gaara began howling in uncontrollable laughter, clutching their sides and leaning against each other for support. To them, the idea was hilariously ridiculous. Still, Sanji glared at the pair in rage, but Koga and Riku gazed at them anxiously. To the pre-teens, the idea was not so far fetched. Finally, Sanji, unsure what to make of this reaction, lost his patience.

“ ** _Will you answer the question?_** ” he shouted, silencing the two new souls.

This little out-burst made Naruto and Gaara pause. As they observed the three pre-teens before them, they saw the tension in their bodies and the fear in their eyes. It was a sincere question. Again, Naruto and Gaara looked at each other, this time in confusion, both wondering what the kids could see that they couldn’t. Finally, Naruto turned his questioning gaze to Sanji.

“No, not as far as we know. Why? Do we look like we are?”

Now it was children’s turn to look confused.

“Well, yes actually, you do. The only visible thing that distinguishes Shinigami from any soul you see walking around is the black robes they wear. That and the zanpakutò they have on their hip” Sanji answered, wondering if the pair sitting in front of him really didn’t know or if they were really, _really_ good actors.

There was a pregnant pause, as Gaara and Naruto absorbed this piece of information. Neither was quite sure how to react to what they had just been told after years of believing that there was only one shinigami, **_the_** Shinigami, who could be summoned at the cost of a person’s life, with a sealing jutsu. The pair also noticed how tense the three kids became at the thought of being around these so-called shinigami. A concerned frown came over Naruto’s face as theories and possible reasons ran through his head, but it was Gaara that asked the question with narrowed eyes.

“You seem to dislike these shinigami. Why is that?”

Sanji narrowed his own eyes. He didn’t like the way Gaara phrased the question and it made him think that Gaara and Naruto really were just good actors. Koga on the other hand had no such thoughts.

“They’re a bunch of no good, rotten, _bastards_ , who enjoy stealing, beating and sometimes _killing_ people for fun” he spat, rage evident on his face. Sanji glared at him for his lack of suspicion, but hit upside the head for a different reason.

“What have I told you about swearing in front of Riku?” he hissed.

“It’s not my fault that’s the only way I can describe them the best” Koga retorted, glaring back at his brother figure.

“You could’ve said ‘putting it lightly’, moron.”

“It still wouldn’t have been good enough.” 

Deciding that the argument was an old one and going nowhere, Naruto tried to redirect the conversation, as Koga’s description, while worryingly ringing with the tone of truth, sounded a little bit biased.

“They can’t all be like that, though, can they?” he asked.

Sanji sighed. He really didn’t want to say anything to that and he was really regretting agreeing with Koga to follow the pair. He looked at Naruto and his face filled with concern, apprehension and a little bit of hope. He looked at Gaara and found his face was completely blank. No emotion what so ever showed on his face, yet, it was completely obvious that Sanji had his undivided attention. They didn’t look like shinigami. They looked like normal souls. Souls who cared about what happened to Sanji and his brothers. That in itself put Sanji on guard. No one here cared what happened to three kids who needed to eat. Families banded together, but anyone who needed to eat attracted trouble. The only people who cared were the shinigami who tried to recruit Sanji and his brothers because they had high levels of spiritual energy and would make good shinigami. Sanji didn’t want that, neither did Koga or Riku. None of them wanted to become shinigami. But, Sanji was tired. He was tired of being the eldest, the responsible one, the suspicious one. Focusing again on the two in front of him he decided to take a leap of faith. Who knew, maybe he would get two older brothers by the end of the day. Sanji sighed again at such hopeful thoughts, before answering honestly, much to Koga and Riku’s amazement.

“Not all of them are like the bandits that Koga described, but those who aren’t either have nothing to do with this part of the Soul Society or try to recruit people like Riku, Koga and I” Sanji explained quietly.

“People like you?” Gaara asked, only a speck of curiosity in his tone.

“People who need to eat” Riku chirped, trying to get back into the conversation. Unfortunately, his answer only left Gaara and Naruto confused. Sanji smiled slightly at his childish brother and explained.

“People with high spiritual levels need to eat food to keep up their strength. These people are also supposed to make very good shinigami. In theory.”

The group snorted at the idea of such a theory, Naruto and Gaara having had experience with similar ideas in life, and the three kids living with the result of such a ‘theory’ every day.

“The problem is food is scarce in this part of the Soul Society. Any food that is here is either stolen, only sold to wealthier merchants or rotten. Anyone that does have food isn’t sharing” Sanji finished.

There was silence after that, while the new souls absorbed this information. That was something they hadn’t heard when they asked around the streets and it concerned them greatly. Both Gaara and Naruto knew they had large reserves of power, if being Kage level shinobi said anything and this lack of food to keep such reserves might become a problem, if they didn’t do something.

“The shinigami have food though, don’t they? Why not just go with the recruiters?” Naruto asked suddenly. The kid’s faces darkened at the idea, but it was Koga who snarled at Naruto.

“Why would we want to go with _them_? So we could learn to become bloody murderers ourselves, or become Hollow feed because some arrogant asshole gave us orders? -”

Had Riku not grabbed Koga’s hand and looked at him with teary eyes, he probably would’ve kept going. Even though he stopped talking, it was clear Koga was still raging on the inside and the calming hand Sanji placed on his shoulder could only do so much. Naruto and Gaara got the feeling that becoming a shinigami was a taboo subject for these kids and their reasons sounded more than a little personal. To their surprise, Sanji quietly explained their reasons, while Riku hugged Koga who looked to be on the verge of tears.

“We used to have parents. People who looked after us at least and we thought about going with the recruiters back then because our parents didn’t need to eat and it was getting harder to look after us as we grew. Then we heard that we would be split up from each other if we went to the Shinigami academy. Kids from this area aren’t well liked there. We’re thought to be bad influences on others. Then, our parents were murdered. Those bandits we told you about wanted to recruit us as well, but our parents said if we didn’t want to go then they wouldn’t make us. They stood up to them and for that they were killed.”

Tears spilled silently from Koga’s unseeing eyes as he looked straight ahead and Riku’s small body shook as he buried his head into Koga’s neck and continued to hug his older brother. Sanji was silent, no tears, no tremors, just a drawn expression with eyes that longed for a happier time. A dark silence reigned over the group. Sanji sighed once again and tried to shake off the depressing thoughts in his head.

“The recruiters from both groups thought we go to them after that, thinking we’d have nowhere else to go. We’ve been avoiding them ever since.”

Naruto, shaken from his dèjà vu and memories of Inari, looked at Sanji and gave him a sad smile.

“Thank you for telling us what happened. You didn’t have to, but we’re grateful. It explains a lot” he softly replied. Gaara, uncomfortable with how the conversation went so far, decided to change the subject. He may have had a rare, once on a blue moon fit of emotion since meeting the boys, but that didn’t mean he liked feeling so many strong emotions at once.

“Koga mentioned something about hollows. What are they?”

Sanji stayed silent, but looked to Koga for an answer. Koga having heard the question hugged Riku back in thanks, before gently prying his arms from his neck. Shooting Riku a smile in reassurance that he was okay, Koga dried his tears and answered the best he could.

“I’ve only ever seen one, and apparently they’re souls that went bad. The one I saw was big, bone white and kinda looked like a lizard. It had yellow eyes too.”

Riku having cheered up a little gave a sly grin and jumped at the chance to annoy his brother.

“Koga’s the only one of us to have seen one because he’s the biggest idiot of the three of us,” he goaded. Koga’s eyebrow twitched but he said nothing. Riku sniggered triumphantly. Koga still said nothing. Sanji, glanced witheringly at his younger siblings before turning to Gaara and Naruto. 

“Koga got lost in the forest and came across this hollow eating another soul. The fact the hollow was distract was the only reason he got away unharmed” he said matter-of-factly. 

“I did not get lost. I simply didn’t realise how far in I was” Koga snapped, trying to defend himself. His eyebrow twitched again. Sanji and Riku shared a look behind his back. Both were entirely convinced.

“Riiiiiight.”

“Sure. Of course.”

Not.

Gaara and Naruto looked on in amusement, but both had noted what Sanji had said. _‘...Hollow eating another soul.’_

Storing away the information for future reference, Naruto stood up and stretched. Gaara following his lead stood up and looked to Naruto.

“It seems the afterlife is what your friend Shikamaru used to say. Troublesome” his quiet voice not projecting the amusement that was in his eyes. Naruto however laughed out loud at the truthful comment.

“I know, on the one hand you have giant white things that want to eat us and on the other you have the shinigami who use food as bribery so you’ll join them, then you have daily crime, murder and violence in between. I thought the afterlife was supposed to be nice.”

“Obviously, we were wrong.”

“Obviously. Still, I wonder if there’s a way to just take the shinigami’s offer of food and run” Naruto mused out loud. Gaara smirked.

“If anyone could figure out how to do it, it would be you, Naruto.”

The three kids, however, looked up at Naruto in astonishment before Koga and Sanji jumped to their feet, their bodies livid with repressed anger. Riku scrambled up behind them not wanting to be left on the ground, while everyone else towered over him.

“Even after everything we told you? Everything you’ve just heard?” Sanji hissed.

“You would still join those stupid shinigami, for some food?!” Koga finished with a growl of disbelief.

Gaara gave them a blank stare, uncaring of how worked up they were. Personally, he didn’t think it was any of their business what he and Naruto did. He also knew, however, that Naruto had been joking when he said that and, like himself, really didn’t want to have another life of being a human tool used in war or other such battles. He also knew that Naruto would explain all of this to them, and so, he kept his mouth shut.

Naruto didn’t disappoint, as he widened his eyes in bewilderment.

“Woah, easy, calm down. When did I ever say I’d join the shinigami?”

Sanji and Koga looked each other uneasily but Riku answered his semi-rhetorical question.

“You didn’t.”

“That’s right, I didn’t. I wondered if I could take their food and run, something completely different. Besides, I think I’ve had enough war, loss and bloodshed to last me a lifetime” Naruto lectured.

Gaara snorted, “It did last you a lifetime, Naruto. Or have you forgotten your old life already?”

Naruto glared at Gaara for the direct barb, while the kids wondered at exactly what the pair were talking about.

“You know what I mean, smart-ass” Naruto grumbled to his long time friend. Koga looked between Gaara and Naruto, waiting for either to elaborate. When they didn’t, he huffed.

“He may know what you’re talking about but we don’t!” He grouched.

Naruto looked down into one grumpy and two curious faces, before looking to Gaara for support. Naruto wasn’t ashamed of anything in the life he lived, but that said, he wasn’t sure he wanted to tell anyone about it. Power often attracted the greed of others and Naruto really just wanted to start of with a clean slate. Gaara noticing the look closed his eyes for a moment, before settling on a vague but satisfying answer.

“We were warriors in our past life.”

Two pairs of eyes shone with awe, but Sanji’s turned calculative.

“What type of warriors?” Koga asked admiration layering his voice.

“Another story, for another time” Naruto answered, grateful to Gaara for his more satisfying answer and hoping it would placate them for a while.

Sanji on the other hand was running through the conversation the pair had when they first showed themselves to Sanji and his brothers. _The two of them only look to be about fifteen or sixteen and they were in war? That can’t be right. They’re too young. But didn’t Naruto say Gaara was dangerous at our age? Does that mean they’ve been at war all this time. Naruto also called Gaara the Kazekage. Doesn’t that mean, “Wind Shadow”? Is that a nickname or a title? I wonder if it’s a position of power?_

Sanji’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt when he felt a hand on his head. He looked up to see Naruto with a sad smile on his face looking down at him. When Sanji looked in his eyes however, he suddenly felt very young compared to Naruto. Sanji suddenly had no wish to find out what kind of warriors Naruto and Gaara were because whatever they had done in their past life had aged them beyond their actual years in the human world. Naruto shocked him however, by what he said next and it made him wonder if Naruto could read minds or if he was just that obvious.

“Don’t worry about it. It was our life, so it’s our problem. We’ll probably tell you about it at some point, so until then, forget about it. Okay?”

Sanji nodded and Naruto gave him another smile and ruffled his hair. Gaara gave a soft smile behind them at the sight. Naruto always showed people kindness and made them at ease. It was one of the many things he admired about Naruto and Gaara once again reminded himself how lucky he was to have died with a comrade like Naruto beside him.

Having gotten his message across, Naruto stepped back and threw his hands behind his head. Looking onto the street he and Gaara had stopped in before they had surprised the three kids, he made a suggestion.

“Well, this alleyway really is a sight to see and all, but how about you three show us around a bit more?” he spoke nonchalantly.

Gaara shook his head at his friend, a small, soft smile on his face and walked off in the direction Naruto was looking. Naruto watched him go before shrugging and look down at Sanji, Koga and Riku.

“Well? You coming?” he asked before following Gaara.

Koga and Riku looked at each other before turning to Sanji. Sanji watched as Naruto sauntered to the entrance of the alley. There was a light feeling in his chest and a weight lifted of his shoulders. He grinned at Koga and Riku before the three of them ran to catch up with Naruto.

* * *


	3. The Demon Protectors

* * *

_“Well? You coming?” he asked before following Gaara._

_Koga and Riku looked at each other before turning to Sanji. Sanji watched as Naruto sauntered to the entrance of the alley. There was a light feeling in his chest and a weight lifted of his shoulders. He grinned at Koga and Riku before the three of them ran to catch up with Naruto._

As the group walked down the street, getting closer the green of the field and forest, Koga and Riku babbled away to Gaara and Naruto, explaining different things about the Soul Society, the shinigami, the hollows and the afterlife in general. Sanji added his two cents here and there and Naruto asked a few questions and made a few comments to keep them occupied. Gaara was completely silent as they walked. A dark frown seemed to steadily grow on his face. A nudge from Naruto was all that was needed to realise that his friend was putting on an act for all involved and that he noticed it too.

Someone was watching them. And they weren’t friendly. 

Another minute or two passed and Sanji gently brushed his brother’s arms with his fingertips. To anyone watching it could’ve been accidental. To Naruto and Gaara however, they saw the shift in Koga’s eyes and facial expression and the slight inaudible stutter in Riku’s speech. The changes were so slight and were covered so quickly the onlookers thought they imagined it. Naruto and Gaara however, were trained to notice such changes and weren’t fooled. The three kids began to tense as they began to really feel their watcher’s gaze. Naruto and Gaara shared a gaze and stepped behind the three. Suddenly, Naruto swooped in and picked Riku up to place him on his shoulders. Sanji, Koga and Riku nearly had a heart attack because of it. Naruto simply laughed at their expressions. Riku clutched Naruto’s blonde locks tightly and pouted at the surprise. The few civilians in the street just smiled at the scene the five young boys created.

The group fell into a seemingly easy silence after that. While Naruto’s surprise action seemed diffused the tension in their bodies, the kids became exceedingly jumpy. Their watchers were getting closer. Clearly but quietly, so only Sanji, Koga and Riku could hear him, Naruto tried to reassure them.

“Relax and act natural. If you start to tense, eventually they’ll notice you’ve sensed them. Gaara and me are here and we’re going to make sure nothing happens to you. Right, Gaara?”

Gaara glanced at Riku on Naruto’s shoulders, before looking down at Sanji and Koga. He nodded at the question before looking straight ahead, closing his eyes and spreading his senses farther. There was more than one group watching them, he knew and he hoped Naruto noticed to.

Naruto continued to placate the three boys knowing that Gaara was better than him at sensing people and their intentions.

“See, nothing’s going to happen to you. So trust us and relax, alright?”

Riku relaxed his hold on Naruto’s hair and Koga nodded. Sanji glanced at Gaara and gave him a weird look when he saw he was practically walking with his eyes closed. He looked up at Naruto who shot him a smile before looking at where he was going. Sanji sighed and looked ahead. _Not like I have much choice,_ he thought. Koga noticing his brother’s reluctance, decided to distract him by trying to put him in a headlock. Key word: try.

As soon as Koga moved Sanji ducked under his arm and moved so fast Koga didn’t even see what was happening until he was already in the responding headlock. Sanji taunted Koga with a smirk as the younger boy started to wriggle to try and escape the grip.

“Your gonna have to try better than that, little brother.”

“Come on, Sanji! Let me go!!” Koga whined, struggling harder.

“Nope.”

“Sanji!!”

“Nope, you asked for this, Koga.”

“Naruto, a little help here!” Koga asked, as he changed tactic.

“Sorry, Koga, but I got my hands full with Riku on my shoulders. If you can get him down though, I might” Naruto explained lightly, completely unapologetic.

“Riku!! Get off Naruto’s shoulders!!” Koga cried.

Riku grinned deviously; “Sorry Koga, but I really like it up here.”

Naruto laughed at the tone in Riku’s voice. Koga growled and struggled even harder in Sanji’s unrelenting grip.

“Riku, you little traitor!!”

Gaara’s eyes snapped open and he and Naruto stopped dead. Riku looked at the two in confusion. Sanji released Koga and the pair turned back, wondering why they stopped so suddenly. There was a gust of wind and Sanji and Koga found themselves between Naruto and Gaara. Naruto was in front of them blocking a strike from a soul in black robes with a katana like sword with a single bare hand. Gaara stood defensively behind them, facing the way they had just come and a group of souls who were also wearing black robes. Both Naruto and Gaara narrowed their eyes respectively at their potential opponents. Naruto, using the katana as leverage, shoved away his attacker, who jumped back to a similar looking group who had appeared. His hand healed instantly, but no one other than Riku noticed as he wiped the blood from his hand, lifted Riku from his shoulders and placed him down beside Sanji. Sanji quickly grabbed his brother and put him between him and Koga.

The civilians quickly cleared the streets in fear. Not a word was said the entire time. 

Naruto heard a dark voice from the recesses of his mind.

**_As I said, you and your life are minutely more entertaining than gathering dust on a forgotten shelf._ **

Naruto smirked and inwardly chuckled at the unintended compliment.

The arrogant looking soul who had attacked Naruto decided to break the silence.

“Well, well, well. It looks like the brats got themselves another pair of protectors, and it looks like they might actually have some skill after blocking my attack, if only barely” he commented condescendingly, while the group behind him chuckled darkly.

Both Naruto and Gaara felt the need to raise an eyebrow at that. While Gaara only guessed from experience, Naruto knew he had blocked that attack in plenty of time, with little effort. Neither felt the need to comment, however. An ignorant enemy was an easily killed enemy, after all, so they remained silent and stoic as they analysed their respective opponents.

The group in front of Naruto were obviously the ‘bastard’ bandits that Sanji and Koga had spoken of. Their feet were bare and dirty, their robes unkept and their katana were beginning to show signs of rust. Around ten smudged and sullied faces sneered in arrogant contempt at Naruto. He was unimpressed.

The group facing Gaara was another story, however. The small group of five were obviously well kept. Their robes were pressed and primed to the point of perfection and they all wore durable looking white tabi on their feet and their katana were obviously shined and sharpened daily. It was also obvious who the leaders of this group were. A tall man, with grey eyes and long, wavy brown hair, stood in front of the small group. He wore a straw hat and a pink, flowered kimono draped across his shoulders, clearly distinguishing him as the one in charge to Gaara. A young woman, with violet tinted blue eyes, glasses and straight black hair that was tied back, stood slightly behind the group’s leader.

There was silence as the three groups had a stand off. Riku closed his eyes and prayed. As the tension grew, Naruto huffed in annoyance and muttered under his breath.

“Well, this is dull a day in purgatory.”

Riku paused in his praying, Koga stifled a giggle and Sanji resisted the urge to introduce his palm to his face. Gaara just rolled his eyes, well accustomed to Naruto’s impatience over the years, though it had improved greatly. While the bandits didn’t hear the words he’d uttered, they had seen Naruto’s disgruntled look and his lips move. Not having seen the reactions of the others in the small party and only focusing on their own overconfidence, they decided to taunt their ‘victims’ some more.

“That’s such an unhappy face you wear, boy,” Naruto twitched at the name, he hadn’t been called a boy in years. “Have you just realised you’re about to die for a lost cause?”

“Look buddy, I’ve already woken up dead once today. It’s not happening again. Also, it takes a lost cause to know a lost cause and the only lost cause I see here is you,” Naruto grunted loudly.

It had been a long time since he had to have a brawl with some bandits and after all he had been through, Naruto wasn’t sure if he would have the patience to spare them.

The kids were filled with a feeling of warm hope at these words but the two opposing groups only focused on the first thing Naruto said. These newcomers were new souls. New souls with their own clothes. Just what had they stumbled upon. A less than observant bandit used his slightly less than average intelligence to deduce that, new souls meant easy pickings. Easy pickings meant they were weak souls in life and death. This poor, ignorant fool laughed and proceeded to dig his own grave and lie in it.

“Ahaha! You woke up dead once already, huh? This hovel isn’t much of a change from your life then, is it? I’ll bet you died without a thing to your name except that obnoxious colour of your hair that your hoer of a mother gave you.”

Naruto’s eyes blazed with cold fury and his hand twitched for a kunai before he remembered that he didn’t have his pack with him. He smiled benignly and tilted his head looking quite serene.

“Actually, I got my hair colour from my father who was happily married to my mother, asshole. Gaara? Be a pal and lend me a kunai, would you?” Naruto asked cheerfully.

Gaara didn’t take his eyes of his group of advisories for a second or even blink as the cork on his gourd shifted, lifted and dropped to the ground as sand released itself from the large container. Kids and shinigami alike, watched amazed as a small section of sand floated above their heads and compacted perfectly into the shape of a kunai, which then floated into reach in front of Naruto.

“Thank you.”

Those two words were all that was heard before the kunai imbedded itself to the hilt in the skull of the foolish bandit, right between the eyes. Everyone, save the ninjas, watched in shock as the body of the bandit hit the floor, his facial expression still twisted into an ugly sneer. Only one bandit kneeled beside his fallen ally, the rest were too shocked to do anything. The shinigami in front of Gaara shifted uncomfortably. It was rare for them to see such an open act of swift and fatal violence, this side of death.

“That was quick” Gaara commented lightly. “I thought you would’ve made his death slower.”

“And prolong his trip to hell? Not likely” Naruto said dryly.

Incensed, the bandits brandished their swords. While they may not have fully liked or trusted one another, never before had one of their number been defeated and so casually brushed aside. The runt would pay dearly for his insult. In response, the shinigami grabbed their hilts but did not draw their katana, waiting for the order from their leader. The children were huddled between the two forms of Naruto and Gaara, who while alert, looked completely at ease and almost bored with the situation. The shinigami leader frowned for a moment, sighed and stepped forward.

“Now, everyone just calm down,” he began. Both new souls couldn’t resist raising their eyebrows with a snort and Naruto even sent the man an incredulous glance over his shoulder.

“Naruto. Focus.”

“What? Gaara, you know as well as I do that the only people here who are even remotely calm are you and me. He’s asking the impossible.”

There was a pause before the shinigami leader opened his mouth to try and deny that fact, but Gaara cut him off.

“Naruto, you realise many would think you are impossible.”

“I’m the exception.”

“Why is that, I wonder?”

“Because I’m awesome like that. Don’t question the workings of awesomeness, Gaara. Just accept it.”

“Naruto?”

“Yes, Gaara?”

“Shut up and focus.”

“Right you are, sir.”

“Naruto...” Gaara growled, glaring at the shinigami, who shivered.

“What? I was just showing-”

“Just who the hell are you?” the bandit leader asked, unknowingly voicing the question on everyone else’s mind. What worrying kind of people stood there and bickered about niceties when they were surrounded by threats?

“I’m Namikaze Uzumaki Naruto” Naruto nearly boasted, standing tall.

While he knew his name wouldn’t be recognised he was proud of where he’d come from and what he’d achieved. A spark of recognition flashed in the eyes of the shinigami leader. A flash that Gaara caught as he stated in his own dry tone;

“And I’m Sabaku No Gaara.”

Another dim flash of recognition, though this one was accompanied by a look of confusion. _So, he recognises our names but not the reasons why,_ Gaara thought, still gazing at the shinigami leader, _good._

The leader took his chance at the moments pause to try and introduce himself and gain some semblance of control over the situation.

“I’m Captain-” he failed.

“Oh, Captain! You should get on real well with Gaara, then. He was Regimental Commander once” Naruto commented in a chipper sort of voice and, like Gaara, never once taking his eyes of his group of opponents. “Not to be confused with Commander General, though.”

“Enough of this!” the bandit leader screamed, thoroughly annoyed and shocking everyone out of their confusion, except Naruto and Gaara again.

“You have killed one of my men, so whether or not you hand over the runts now, you will not leave this place alive!”

“You see, I have two things wrong with that,” Naruto stated flatly with a dull look in his eye.

“One; I don’t really like you. So, you having a say in my personal health plan isn’t really up for debate. And two; you see that forest? Up beyond that hill behind you? That’s where we were headed with the so called ‘runts’. I’d really like to get there before dusk, so you stopping us wasn’t really on the agenda for today.”

“You’ll have to go through us first” the bandit glared.

A sinister aura began to leak from Naruto’s very pores and an echoing demonic laugh reverberated in the minds of the bandits. As one they began to sweat in fear. Naruto smiled a dark malicious smile that showed far too many teeth to be comforting;

“I was hoping you would say that.”

In a yellow flash, Naruto darted into the middle of the bandit group. Their screams of agonising pain so followed his transition, but the sounds of snapping bones and bloodied slashing were nearly just as loud as the screams. Even as his eyes bled from sapphire blue to glowing violet to blood red, even as his blunt nails grew to sharp claws and even as his whiskers became darker and more feral, Naruto tried to keep the gore to a minimum in his bloodlust. Though he snarled and grinned with crazed glee as he ran a stolen, rusted blade through the body of another bandit, Naruto was still conscious of the three mostly innocent kids he was protecting. He reminded the Kyùbi and himself, that he could not rip these insects limb from limb, even if he wanted to.

The shinigami stood in shocked horror for a moment before fully drawing their blades and waiting for orders, twitching at nearly every particularly painful scream. Just as the Captain was about to give the order, Gaara brought their attention back to him. Releasing a large amount of KI and combining it with the cloud of malicious evil already hovering over the group, Gaara froze the shinigami in a manner of seconds. His dead, hollow looking green eyes gazed at them as he rasped;

“I apologise, but I cannot let you intervene with this battle. You too are endeavouring to capture my new charges and I cannot let that happen.”

“Wait!” exclaimed the Captain, desperate for less violent negotiations. “Surely there is a way we can speak civilly about this?”

“Would you allow us to walk away with the boys in our care?” Gaara asked, his scepticism unheard in his dry, rasping voice.

Before the Captain had a chance to give a placating answer, a lower ranked member of his unit gave a stubborn denial;

“Never! Those boys will be taught the ways of the shinigami, so they can become responsible, respectable and useful members of the Soul Society. Their powers will be used for the good of all souls!”

Gaara narrowed his eyes in anger at the familiar explanation. He had been expecting an evasive answer from the Captain, but this passionate speech just made life easier for everyone in, his opinion.

“I thought as much,” was all Gaara said, however.

Tendrils of sand, which had been floating around Gaara’s legs in a deceptively peaceful manner, shot out and around the necks of the well dressed shinigami. They dropped their katana to rip at the sand as they struggled for breath. The Captain and his second-in-command tried to perform releasing and binding spells but their hands were quickly bound by extra tendrils of floating sand. Gaara stepped forward to look the gasping Captain in the eye.

“You needn’t worry about dying. I imagine there would be many political consequences for me if I were to kill you. I believe it would be more trouble than it’s worth. You will only be incapacitated for a short time and I hope, for your sake, this is the last time we meet under such conditions.”

The Captain’s world faded into darkness as he joined his subordinates in oblivion. Their bodies were dropped to the ground and the sand returned to the gourd on Gaara’s back, picking up the cork on it’s way and plugging it into the opening. Arms folded across his chest, Gaara turned to watch over the children he and Naruto had charged themselves with protecting.

As soon as the screaming started, Sanji pulled both Koga and Riku to his chest and tried to block out the gory sight and sounds. Sanji though, having no such figure to do that for him, was mesmerised by the carnage, both behind and in front of him. The shinigami had been undeterred in recruiting them for years. They now had two seemingly powerful deterrents to worry about. These bandits, that had scared him and his brothers for years, were dropping like flies, never again to bother another poor person, never again to kill an innocent soul. As Sanji tried to follow the blurring flash of yellow that was quickly being stained red, any fear he felt was tampered down with relief. These protectors were not like his parents who had been killed in front of him. These protectors were skilled and would not go down so easily. Sanji tightened his hold on his brothers, though he realised he no longer had to worry about their safety, and waited out the violence.

The fight was over in a matter of minutes and when it was, the silence was deafening. The shinigami were unconscious and the bandits were either injured, dying or dead. Naruto stood in the middle of the ring of bodies, breathing deeply to reign in his anger and bloodlust. Knowing Naruto needed a moment, Gaara slowly approached the kids. Standing beside where Sanji was sitting, clutching his brothers, Gaara asked;

“Are you alright?”

Sanji snapped out of his daze at Gaara’s voice and loosened his grip on his brothers. Clearing his throat, Sanji answered quietly; “We’re fine. Thank you.”

Gaara nodded as he watched Koga and Riku take in the scene in amazement. Koga began spouting a mile a minute about how cool the two ‘warriors’ were, ignoring the blood and death in a way a child who had lived in such trying times could. Riku, however, saw Naruto standing alone, blood splattered all over his clothes, in the middle of the ring of bandit bodies, his own body trembling every now and then. Riku deftly made his way over to Naruto, under the watchful eyes of Gaara and ignoring the worried calls of Sanji.

Reaching Naruto’s side, Riku clasped a clawed, bloodied hand in his own. Naruto went rigid and stilled, before opening his eyes and looking with restrained rage at the young boy beside him. Riku gasped and stared transfixed by the sight of Naruto’s slitted, glowing violet eyes. Slowly, Naruto crouched in front of the boy, never once breaking eye contact or letting go of his hand. The movement broke Riku’s trance but brought his attention to the darkened whiskers on Naruto’s face that were now within reach. Tentatively, he brought a hand up to the older boy’s cheek and brushed a whisker gently. The reaction was instant, Naruto’s eyelids drooped and he let out a rumbling purr. Riku giggled and continued his ministrations until the whiskers began to lighten and the claws shorten and blunt. A moment more and sapphire eyes opened to look gratefully at the young boy. Riku smiled happily, seeming to get the message. Standing straight, Naruto lead his new charge over to where Gaara was smirking and his brothers were standing in awe.

“Have a nice cuddle, Kit?” Gaara asked, slyly.

Naruto scowled in response; “At least it’s just my cheeks, Tanuki. You’re very sensitive without your sand armour, if I recall correctly.”

Gaara swiftly lost his smirk and glowered at an innocent looking Naruto. The three kids looked on in confusion but ignored it in favour of an important question.

“Are we really going to the forest? To stay there?” asked Koga, not entirely finished with his endless excited chatter.

“Yep,” -Naruto nodded- “we’ll be better able to train you there.”

“Train us?” Sanji asked in suspicion.

“Naruto and I won’t always be able to protect you” Gaara explained. “You need to know how to look after yourselves comfortably without us. That includes hunting and hiding as well as self defence.”

Riku looked excited at the prospect of learning new things, but Koga groaned at the thought of hiding from his enemies. Sanji nodded thoughtfully to himself, knowing the truth behind Gaara’s words and realising that neither of the two teens would ever ask for either him or his brothers to fight for an irrelevant reason. Naruto let go of Riku’s hand and physically turned, both him and Koga by the shoulders, in the direction of the forest. Giving them a slight push, the pair set of walking, a still thoughtful Sanji trailing behind them. Naruto watched them for a moment before turning with a smile to Gaara.

“This should be fun, huh?” he said.

An amused ‘Hn’ was all he got in reply.

“What?” he asked sensing something more.

“You and strays you pick up, Naruto” Gaara sighed with a smile. “That’s all.”

Naruto frowned for a moment before letting it go. Gaara didn’t seem all that bothered by it, so he wouldn’t be either. Side by side, they started walking after the younger boys.

“They seem to know the basics” Naruto commented. “It’ll be easier to teach them if they do.”

“Yes, I noticed that” Gaara replied casually.

A garbled, wheezing laugh from behind them, stopped the pair in their tracks. The dying bandit leader spoke to their backs, from where he sat against a shack, in a vain attempt to have the last say.

“The Forest? The forest is a place of hollows and beasts. You’ll never last the night, never mind lasting long enough to teach the brats anything worth while.”

There was a pause, as the bandit stared at their backs in triumph.

“Of hollows?”

Gaara began with a dying rasp, turning to gaze at the bandit with his dead, empty eyes from his blank face. He looked like a porcelain puppet without strings or a ghost sent to haunt the living.

“And beasts, you say?”

Naruto finished, also turning to show the bandit his feral, slitted, blood-red eyes, his deep and darkened whiskers and his bloodthirsty, malicious, fox-like grin. Naruto and Gaara began leaking evil and murderous intent, respectively, from their pores.

“How about monsters?” Gaara asked.

“Or demons?” queried Naruto.

The dying man shook in fear, a cold sweat poring from his brow. He began to see the stupidity of taunting such beings. They would kill him in a heartbeat, making it slow and painful, until he begged for the freedom his new death would bring. Naruto’s grin widened as if reading his mind and the bandit struggled to breath at the thought. With a coy grin, the blonde’s bloody gaze shifted to his companion.

“I think we’ll fit right in. Don’t you agree, Gaara?”

“Hn.”

As one they turned on their heel and followed after the excited boys, who were a good distance away by now and hadn’t noticed anything amiss. The bandit slumped against the shack when they left. His exhaustion washing away most of his fear, though his body still shivered with it. He knew he didn’t have long left for this world and for once he was grateful. He did not want to be here when the rest of the shinigami found out about what had happened here today. Especially not if the boys were being thought by demons. It was his last thought before he died again.

* * *


End file.
